I have been poz for over ten years, on meds most of that time. I have been off of meds for about 7 months now and am doing well, t-cells at 550 and viral load about 20,000. I keep getting hit by migraine, fever, severe joint pain, sore throat. This comes on very fast and my Dr. tells me it's just the "crud". It lasts for about 3 days and goes away slowly. I have had at least 3 incidents since stopping meds. Any idea what may be causing this? The sore throat is so bad I can't even swallow water and the pain in my joints is worse than I've ever experienced before. I would appreciate any thing you can tell me. Thanks

Response from Dr. Feinberg

Some HIV+s who have had a good response to therapy and then stop it are thought to have an illness that's like acute retroviral syndrome. That's one possibility. The other is that you have had separate bouts of "the crud" as your doctor stated. (I have seen lots of this, too.)

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